Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is scheduled to be in Washington, D.C. on Friday. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) says the prime minister should bring imprisoned Navy Lt. Ridge Alkonis with him.

Mike Lee posted a long Twitter thread about Lt. Alkonis on Sunday and Monday on his personal Twitter account. He said he has been working on convincing the federal government it needs to work with Japan to free the lieutenant for the past 18 months.

“As I’ve worked on this case for more than 18 months, I’ve been left with the impression that DOD is way too concerned about offending the Japanese government, and thus being far too quiet and timid about Alkonis remaining (unfairly) in a Japanese prison,” Lee tweeted.

10. @POTUS, please #BringRidgeHome.

— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) January 9, 2023

Alkonis was involved in a tragic car accident in 2021 and convicted of negligent driving.

Alkonis was convicted of negligent driving in the deaths of an 85-year-old Japanese woman and her 54-year-old son-in-law on May 29, 2021, while the Alkonis family was driving down Mount Fuji after a day trip.

A Japanese judge determined Alkonis had fallen asleep at the wheel and lost control of his vehicle, which plowed into pedestrians and parked cars in a restaurant parking lot two hours from Yokosuka Naval Base, where he was serving as anti-submarine warfare officer.

But U.S. Navy investigators determined that Alkonis suffered from acute mountain sickness and lost consciousness. His wife and children said that he was not sleepy and appeared to black out. They said that once he passed out, he was unresponsive to their screams and one daughter’s kicks. He remained unconscious even during the crash itself.

Horrible. Senator Lee said the accident wouldn’t have landed him in prison in the U.S. Even in Japan, a lengthy prison sentence is likely only if the driver is a U.S. military officer. And Lee criticizes the Defense Secretary Austin for the department’s decision not to pay military wages and benefits to the family while he’s in prison.

Sen. Mike Lee called out Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for cutting off the pay of Navy Lt. Ridge Alkonis while he serves a three-year prison sentence in Japan.

“Secretary Austin callously informed me that day that the request for the exception to policy would not be granted. I asked him why. He believed it wasn’t appropriate for the department to do that,” the Utah Republican said last week in a Senate floor speech, referring to a Nov. 29 phone call with the secretary.

The Department of Defense’s decision to not extend Alkonis’ pay and benefits while he serves his sentence amounts to having his wife, Brittany, and three children “kicked to the curb” at Christmas time, Lee said.

A Wall Street Journal editorial on the case prompted Brittany Alkonis to praise the piece. She and Alkonis’ mother, Suzi Alkonis, will participate in a protest in Washington on Friday.

It is never too late to do the right thing.@POTUS NOW is the time to @BringRidgeHome https://t.co/Wblilp8PDw

— suzi alkonis (@medusamama21) January 9, 2023

The Wall Street Journal notes that Japan’s new defense strategy cautions that Asia is facing its biggest security challenges since World War II. Japan and Washington have to work together to stop China making advances. And cracks in the US-Japan alliance will benefit China. The WSJ notes its worth mending any rift the two countries have over the sentencing of Alkonis.

The tragedy has cascaded into a larger fiasco. Lt. Alkonis was arrested and held in solitary confinement for more than three weeks, his family says. He wasn’t given a medical exam that might have exonerated him.

An October letter to President Biden from more than 30 Members of Congress expressed “deep concern” that Japan had refused the lieutenant basic due process and abrogated the agreement that governs U.S. troops in the country. A spokesman for the Embassy of Japan says the government “adhered to the Status of Forces Agreement and its agreed minutes” during the process.

Lt. Alkonis pleaded guilty to charges of negligent driving, on the hope that he would receive a suspended sentence. Lt. Alkonis had no criminal history and had served multiple tours in Japan without incident. He also spent two years in Japan on a Mormon mission, teaching free English classes and doing other volunteer work.

Lt. Alkonis repeatedly expressed remorse, paying $1.65 million in restitution to the families of the victims, a significant sum cobbled together from insurance, savings and donations from friends and family. Junior officers aren’t paid handsomely and Lt. Alkonis is the son of a California fire chief. His wife, Brittany, devotes her time to raising their three children.

Mike Lee has visited Alkonis in Japan. While working for his freedom, Lee forced the Biden administration’s hand by attaching an amendment to the omnibus spending bill that requires the Department of Defense to keep paying Lt. Alkonis. That amendment passed by a voice vote. So, at least his young family is taken care of financially while he’s imprisoned. I’m not holding my breath, though, that the Japanese prime minister will bring Alkonis home on Friday.